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Normally -- at least I think normally -- when I'm blogging summer and on vacation, I am good at updating every day on the trip. In 2024, that hasn't been the case so much ... Benji and I have been in the Midwest for more than a week, but this is the first recap of the trip, and I'm trying to squeeze nine days of stuff into one post. Take a deep breath and follow along with me: We arrived on a Friday via Allegiant through Provo, and the flight was delayed after a computer on the plane was getting an error message. My dad picked us up from Midway, and through a lot of traffic we made it to SuperDawg. I was exhausted (I didn't sleep well the night before) and took too long a nap, but woke up and took Ben to Barnaby's for thin-crust pizza. Drove to Three Lakes to visit Lori's family, stopped Kopp's along the way (a lot of could-have-been-healthier eating will highlight this trip). Ben and I waded into Maple Lake -- damn those little fish, they freak me out when

Too many days without writing. The drive just isn't there right now. The heat has been overbearing. Work has been a bit of slog but not terrible. Lori and Michael were out of town for almost two weeks, Ben was out for one.  Ben completed his club swimming career, high school segment, with a solid state long-course meet. He will move into the dorms soon, and it still hasn't quite settled in. My knee has been a little sore, but I've been running a lot and eating moderately non-stupid ... and I'm the lightest I've been maybe before the pandemic. Not too many other highlights -- it's not easy when you don't blog for 18 days. Went to the doctor after feeling a combination of gas and pinched nerves that resulted in chest pains right around my heart. Everything checked out, but my PA wants me to see a cardiologist even though he is confident it wasn't heart-related. Sat in a dunk tank for the first time -- that was fun, if not totally juvenile (it was so hot, a

The past week has been mostly uneventful, perhaps a bit boring, even with the Fourth of July holiday. I worked, grilled, went running a few mornings, lounged in the heat, and took it easy when I wasn't working.  We've experienced some pet drama with Charlotte being freaked out by fireworks and Popcorn having a large cyst drain that required a vet visit when it became infected. They're both OK now. Popcorn is moving a bit slowly but still brings her sunny attitude to everything, I started walking them separately in the evening so Popcorn can enjoy all the smells while Charlotte can get all her wiggles out. Wow, I really don't have too much to write about these past six days. Lori and I went to Trader Joe's yesterday so I could stock up on some meals while she, Michael and Ben are in the Pacific Northwest this week. I bought a smaller backpack from Nordstrom Rack for my upcoming Allegiant Air flight, and found new sunglasses at Kohl's. We hit Costco a few days ago

My annual solstice post coming several days after the actual summer solstice is becoming a trend. This year, the solstice fell on June 20, while I was in Chicago. I contemplated finding a clear spot to see the sunset -- not an easy task in Chicago where everything is pretty flat -- but it was cloudy and a little rainy. Vacation ended, and I was back in Salt Lake, but the evenings just never worked. I was too tired, finishing up on work, or didn't want to deal with oppressive heat. Even last night, after it's blessedly cooled off in SLC, the skies were a bit overcast and cleared up after I made a decision to stay home. Today has been a incredibly perfect summer day, not too hot, blue skies, and I'm feeling energetic and optimistic. So I'm back at my hillside spot in Donner Park, staring out toward Antelope Island, where the sun is hovering above, albeit a couple degrees where it was two weeks ago. Sunset is actually later than it was om June 20 -- a little astronomically

Returning after a little gap in my summer blogging ... My first week back after vacation found me struggling a little to get back into a work groove. The week went too fast and too slow at the same time, and now that I feel like I'm catching up, a short week because of the holiday will give me one less day. It's not ideal, but at least I'll get a day off Thursday. The heat in Salt Lake City has been off-and-on oppressive, though it finally broke today. I've run four times and want to get out again in the morning ... but I've been sleeping later than usual, which hasn't helped. Hopefully I'll fall asleep quickly tonight and take advantage of the cooler morning.  The week hasn't been totally boring. The weekend was a bit uneventful, but it was so hot that I can deal with that. Benji and I figured out how to play Twilight Inscription, and I did lounge in the swelter for a couple hours (which I don't mind so much if I can also cool off). Lori and I took

This trip to Chicago has felt great, a nice little reset that I semi-desperately needed. But, it was bound to come to an end.  I intended Friday to be a writing day, and I was able to write a little, but for the most part, I just relaxed. No train trips or bike rides or nostalgia cruising. I went for a longer walk in the morning and camped out on my dad's front porch for a little while to write, but the day went quickly. I picked up SuperDawg one last time for lunch, then gave up on writing in favor of just lounging in the sun for a while. I was meeting two of my high school friends in Kenosha for dinner, and that snuck up on me sooner than expected, ending my lazy afternoon. Hanging out with John and John was nice, and I got home at a decent hour. My last day in Chicago also went quickly. My stepmom made a nice brunch for all the kids in town, and I needed to pack for my departure. My cousin's baby was being baptized at a Ukranian church in the city, and I managed to eat a sal

I didn't sleep well last night -- this insomnia is really becoming annoying -- but I was determined to get out of my dad's house and do something today. With only a few days left of this trip and this the most likely day I could get downtown, I forced myself to board a train and head into the city. I didn't bring big plans into my downtown excursion, I really just wanted some sort of Chicago experience. My big complaint about downtown is that most of the really cool things are so expensive. Skydeck at the Sears Tower (I will never call it the Willis Tower)? $40. Architecture tour by boat? $60. Even a peek at the gears that operate the Michigan Avenue bridge costs $5.  But, I had heard good things about the American Writers Museum , which was relatively not expensive and sounded incredibly interesting. So that turned out to be my first destination. The museum was great -- inspiring in many ways. The featured exhibit was on game writing, and that should have interested me mos

I am approaching 5,000 calories burned today, which is just nuts. Besides suggesting I could be in better shape, it shows how active I was today.  After not sleeping well again last night, I did wake up a little earlier, and Dad, Susy and I went out for a bike ride on the North Shore Trail. I have lost most of my nerve on a bicycle, but the uphills were still tough, and I was using muscles I haven't used as much when running. The ride was nice, though hot, and we got back to the house; I ate the rest of the Caesar salad from the night before for lunch. I wanted to relay and enjoy the summer heat a little, so I walked to Whealan Pool via the bike path through the woods. Despite growing up on the northwest side, this was my first time visiting Whealan, which is operated by the county. It was crowded but not too crowded, and I found a spot in the grass, put down my towel, and lounged in the sun and occasional clouds obscuring the sun. The water was a little chilly, so I didn't swi

I wanted this trip to Chicago to be inspiring and creative -- to get me to write after a long stretch in which I haven't felt like writing. To facilitate this, I went on a little bit of a nostalgia tour today. I started by driving to the old, old neighborhood -- before we moved to Oriole Park in 1977. I cruised past the old house, which didn't look too different but I swear we had a bigger front yard than what's there. I also drove past my first grade school around the corner. My mom didn't want me walking across a busy street to get to the Catholic school, so I attended the nearby Lutheran school instead for kindergarten and first grade. The building, which was used for a charter school before the church was sold to another denomination, wasn't too big to begin with and looked as small as I remembered it (and was also painted gray).  After circling the perimeter of Riis Park, I headed back north to my old stomping grounds. After passing our apartment on Irving Park

I'm starting the recap of this day with details from decades before. My father's group of childhood friends in Chicago have remained friends since the 1960s (maybe earlier with some of them). Other friends joined the group, too, and were the core of Dad's softball teams in the '70s and '80s. Dad was mostly the oldest one in the group, and I've always gotten a sense my friends kind of looked up to him. Back in the early and mid '70s, he was already married to a pretty wife, had kids, was a police officer -- he mostly had it together before most of them did.  I loved going to my dad's softball games, and though he played with other teams (either the police league or with other officers), the ones with his friends created the most memories. The smell of dusty evenings, Clincher 16-inch softballs and Old Style feel like summer as much as my other summer nostalgia hoards. Dad's teams -- he was the pitcher and was tough to hit -- always were really good; t

I survived the last few days of work and made it to my reset break in Chicago, where I'm typing from tonight. But I made it just barely. The insomnia that was plaguing me last weekend continued through the week. The heat ramped up in Utah, and I had a few episodes of feeling dizzy. I've been watching what I eat all week, and I may have overcompensated and not consumed enough calories a couple days. I was so tired and couldn't wait for vacation to actually start when I flew out Friday evening. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed into late Friday night/Saturday morning, so I just rebooked for Saturday morning. Alas, I didn't sleep well the night before and was exhausted on the flight (and I can never sleep on airplanes). My dad picked me up from the airport, we got Superdawg, and I tried napping after lunch. The rest of the Saturday was better as I settled into a sort of Chicago experience that I'm hoping to get from this trip. I walked along the forest preserve, whe

The last two weeks haven't exactly zipped by, but here on June 10, I already feel like summer is slipping away before it astronomically has even begun. Honestly, the two weeks haven't been that bad. Lori and I saw Sarah McLachlan in concert last week, and the show was great. We split a canned margarita and a bag of popcorn, and though the heat was unusual for early June, it cooled off enough once Sarah took the stage. We didn't stay for the encore -- she played a new song and "Angel," which might be our least favorite of her songs -- and got out of the parking lot quickly. Our summer is coalescing somewhat. I'm going to Chicago next week for a break from work and Utah. Ben and I were thinking of going to Vegas for that week, but his club team is traveling to Oregon for a meet in July, and he doesn't want to miss too much time off work. Plus, Lori and Michael were already planning some sort of trip to the Pacific Northwest, so they are combining the excursi

I was so looking forward to a nice evening, sitting on the porch, writing, enjoying the first real warm but cool night we've had this year. Nope, didn't happen. A fire came up at work, and it took me more than an hour to sort it out. I should know better than to rage-message after 9 p.m. (though I think I was rather restrained). But at least I'm pounding this out late. Today was gorgeous, a bit warm -- we turned the air conditioning on for a few hours. Michael took over the patio table with some home repair work he's doing, so I worked inside for some of the day. Later, I went to Starbucks, where I didn't get done the thing I wanted to get done because of another fire. I grilled drumsticks and pork chops, which turned out great (at least for the chicken, I was told it turned out great), walked the dogs, hung out with Lori for a little while and watched an episode of "Benson," and then made the mistake of looking at my emails. Holidays are great, but holida

Summer 2024 hasn't started the way I hoped. Benji graduated high school last weekend, and then I departed for Vancouver for my company's annual work retreat. I missed the first evening, so it already felt abbreviated, but I was happy to see my coworkers and enjoy Canada for the first time.  Unfortunately, I think I brought something with me to Canada besides my carry-on suitcase. After more than four years of avoiding it, I caught COVID-19. I started feeling symptoms Monday afternoon and passed it off as allergies, but by Tuesday evening I was wiped out. I managed a feverish six hours of sleep before leaving the hotel for an early flight, got home and slept for three and two hours. By that time, I figured it was just a cold, and an expired COVID test didn't indicate anything. I took Thursday off and slept some more, and Friday discovered two of my co-workers tested positive. I took a new test, and sure enough, it came up positive. It hit so quickly Monday that I don't e